Wolves Mate For Life
by Kitsunefan203
Summary: Alpha's mate for life, but how can a Beta, almost Alpha be w/an Omega? ZackCloud; Zack never expected to become like a wild animal when realizing that the one that makes him complete is a rank down from him...
1. Where It All Started

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they are the copyrighted characters of Tetsuya Nomura

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they are the copyrighted characters of Tetsuya Nomura  
ZackxCloud  
Rating: PG-13 to R (varies as this story continues on)  
Plot: The Lone Wolf and the Wolf of SOLDIER, two different creatures entirely, one of an almost Omega rank and the other, close to an Alpha...They were never meant to fall in love, Alpha's never fall for anyone lower then them. Cloud wants to be in SOLDIER, but when paired with Zack to teach him the ways, will remarks and taunts from others in his own Unit cause the blond man to lose his temper all over Zack, discerning his chances of being with the Alpha? Find out.  
Alpha: Head of the Pack (1st Class SOLDIERS)

Beta: Works under the Alpha (2nd Class SOLDIERS)

Omega: Lowest ranking wolf (3rd Class and other Members)

Chapter 1-Rocky Starts and a Sword Fight or Two  
Wolves are said to mate for life and when one mate passes on to the next life, leaving the sorrowful mate to live on without him or her, many a wolf would've passed into depression feeling that there was nothing more left in life to live for. This story is about two wolves, different in many plains of personality as well as status standings; he was a stocky, cocky, childish, raven haired man whose hair flushed out like a cropped mane, when he moved it was as if twilight danced in his every step. His features were highlighted by the hued purple eyes that dazzled a shimmer of the dim twilight with each swaggering step. Another was a blond whose hair seemed to dance like that of an oversized bird that wolves could see as a source of transportation or even food if need be; he was shy and coy, soft sky blue eyes were hued by a sight of shy personality as well withdrawn inner person. He would see the raven haired one everyday, but his status was that of an Omega's, not worthy of a Beta or even as his status would grow, an Alpha's, attention. It was undeniable that his heart ached like a childish crush for the heavier status wolf, what could he ever offer to such a creature?  
Coy, lilac eyes stared ahead as his boots slapped against the metal of the cat walk that lead to the various and numerous dormitories, gaze was like that of an Alpha keeping his eyes on the others of his pack, but he seemed utterly lost in himself. He was searching for something, or someone.

"Where, oh where, could he be?" his lips quirked playfully as he slowed down his steps, it was if he was padding along through a forest floor, careful to not let onto his prey that he was almost upon the creature, "I know he's around here somewhere…but, I just can't seem to find him."

He knew exactly where his prey was, a pair of faded brown suede boots stuck out from behind a sideway wall, sky blue eyes were buried into a book with blond hair that sat spiked a top his head. Attention fully set into the book as his gloved fingers flicked the page over, eyes ever scanning the pages as to say there was an inanimate treasure that was buried among the words and the infinite pages. It truly was a treasure book to him, it told one how to become a member of SOLDIER, but every time he learned something new; it only seemed to further tell him he would never make it into SOLDIER without a prayer or a best, a miracle.

"Heh…why do I even bother anymore?" he huffed as he closed the book setting it aside him as he tilted his head back, closing his sky blue eyes, "Its not like I could ever find someone in SOLDIER to help me get into SOLDIER. Even if I could…"  
Standing up was the next thing that the mind registered as staggering legs bended under the sensation of no movement for a long period of time as the blond caught himself against the wall, "Note to self, never sit down in that position for too long again."

"You should stop sitting like that, it just leaves you open for…things," a voice leaned inwards as the lilac like eyes stared at the closed sky blue eyes as he squatted down in front of the man; fingers nimbly playing over the spine of the book in the man's resting hands, "…Hey, you okay in there Cloud?"

"It's called sleeping, Zack, you should try it sometime, or maybe you're too hyped up on sugar at all hours to even sleep," Cloud muttered as he pushed the man's face out of his own, "Five more minutes."

Zack Fair was a First Class SOLDIER who had been given the chance to befriend the mere SOLDIER Grunt known simply as Cloud Strife, not a bright bulb of sorts if he had to say. The first time he met him, the man's words were all over the place; he was like a little kid meeting his childhood hero for the first time in person, it was cute, but he could never tell the man that. Zack was already considered the ladies' man of the SOLDIERS, but there were a few that questioned his close relationship with various male members of his squad. Rumors had gone around that he swung on a different swing and that swing liked to swing upside down as well as other odd positions, but no one was about to walk up to him and question him about it. Cloud knew he was straight, even if there had been a small number of men who had done more then smack him in the ass when he came out of the shower. It was becoming scary trying to take a shower alone in fear of the next thing he knew, he would find himself against the shower, backside exposed while someone known as 'Bubba' or 'Butch' made him their man bitch.  
Too many of the cases of men leaving the security sector of the ShinRa SOLDIER grunts had been due to such incidents while they were left to wander the ghetto's of Midgar, insane and babbling fools.

"Come on Cloud, its no fun when you sit here by yourself, sleeping among everything else," Zack was truly worried for the grunt; he had been spending every waking hour studying and only studying that silly manual, "Hello…Earth to Cloud."

Cloud was out like a light.

"Tch…idiot," Zack picked the man up as he worked his hands up under the man's armpits, working him towards the solitary dorm that the man shared alone, "Geez Cloud, I think you need to lay off the heavy dinners at meal time."

His soft snoring was the only thing that kept the man in check as Zack pushed opened the door, plopping the man on the bed; beside him fell the manual he had been reading as it lay open, revealing where it had left off:  
_-A good SOLDIER knows when to admit when he's wrong, and when he has gotten in too deep with a problem; remember these truths and becoming a SOLDIER shall come naturally to you._

"What a load of crap…morals don't measure up to anything in this place," Zack closed the manual as he placed it beside the man's bedside; he was almost undressing the man with his eyes but he remembered that taking advantage of a sleeping man was not the smartest or most dignified thing, "See you later, Cloud."

The door shut behind him as he leaned up against it, every thing in him was screaming that it was wrong to have such thoughts running through his head; they weren't natural or moral at all, disgusting even that he had thoughts of taking advantage of the man while he slept; it made him sick. He could not answer the questions as to why he didn't seem turned away from it; answers were illusive to him as was his own personality. Illusive like a wolf, who slinks through the thickets, making sure that it isn't seen when hunting down prey, but he wasn't alone this time as he walked down the cat walk plank, stopping around the corner where he had found Cloud sleeping. Someone had followed him and getting them off his trail was the first priority; he managed to shove the figure up against the wall as he growled through his teeth.

"What the Hell are you doing over here? You know this is restricted to those who live in this sector," his elbow laid jammed up against the man's throat, nearly crushing him as he saw the man was making an attempt to speak.

After rubbing at his sore throat, the man managed to form sentences, "I could say the same for you 2nd Class SOLDIER, Zack Fair, tell me, why do you watch over that little grunt like he matters worth a damn?"

Zack wasn't sure what the man meant as he kept an eye on the man's general demeanor, "Let me guess, you're friends and you thought, why not watch over him, he'll never amount to being a SOLDIER; face it, he's just as good as jail bait at this point…you won't be able to save him every time he goes into the Shower Hall alone…"

"You listen to me you little prickly son of a bitch…keep all hands off him, he's still a young kid and I don't need his head screwed with by an asshole like you, you touch him, and you'll wish you were down in the Mako Labs," Zack pushed the man's head towards the railing as the man caught himself from a sudden impact and date with the metal railing, "Now get out of here, unless you had something urgent you had to speak to him about."

Picking up his wounded pride was the only thing the man wanted to do as he steadied his steps, his gaze picking up and staring at Zack, Zack was worthy of an Alpha wolves' title; this man was nothing more then a trouble making Omega or even outcast member of the pack. An evil glint of something danced in the man's gaze as his smile turned cocky and devious, softly chuckling to him self as he gathered his steps once again; glaring at Zack as he went.

"You can't always protect him, Fair, he's going to have to land on his own two feet and move forward, pursue his dreams without 'Mommy' babysitting him every step of the way…"

Zack had in his mind, the perfect image of how he would've handled the situation; kick the man over the railing and watch him fall to his doom, and when no one else was looking, slip back into Cloud's room and confess his undying love to him. But the sane and sensible side of him told him other wise; he would get his rewards in the end and when he did, Zack would be there to watch him fail. Zack had become increasingly unsure as to why he had reacted the way he had; he had seen too many good friends leave ShinRa because of problems within the Company that forced them into earlier retirement without a reason. His heart went out to them, even if it didn't show, every time he saw them leave; he couldn't help but think he was the cause of their downfall.

"Zack," the true Alpha had appeared at the bottom of the stair well as Zack looked over the edge of it, staring down at the aged wolf, Angeal, he was truly an Alpha among Alpha's, "Can I have a minute with you?"

Zack rolled his eyes as he shifted down the stairs in a youthful bound as he came to stand in front of his mentor, "What's up?"

All Angeal could do was shift away as he moved towards a secluded area, whenever he did that, Zack knew it had to be serious and it had been a while since the man had had just reason to pull him aside and speak to him on matters of private situations.

"You is what is up, Strife was given to you as a way to help control you and get you over childish ways as well as take him under your wings to kind of help him a little because he seemed to be of a little interest to the Higher Ups and figured you would be the best candidate to help him," Angeal seemed tense; he was the only one that could ever straighten out the young man, "…You're a SOLDIER, and ONLY a SOLDIER, remember that."

Zack was confused by the man's demeanor; he knew that his job came before anyone else, "Understood, sir."

"Good," Angeal took his leave as he left Zack standing where he had now stood.  
Days wore on into nothing less then simple training days, Cloud would spend his days, when he had a free time, would find himself lost in the manual again, "Strife!"

"Yes sir," Cloud closed the book after book marking the page he had been on as he moved towards his Commander.

"I'm having you go one on one with SOLDIER Zack Fair today, see what you can do against him, who knows, you might be pretty good," the Commander seemed confident enough in the man's skills as he pushed Cloud gently forward as Zack stood in position for fighting as swung his sword around.

Cloud became flushed as he had a practice sword thrust into his hands, all the while, the others of his unit watched in wonder as to what would happen, This could end badly…I can't do this, I just can't do this…Zack's a friend, and he's at least a First Class SOLDIER…I'm no one. I can't do this.

"Come on Strife show us what you're made of."

"Prove to us that you are worthy of being a part of SOLDIER."

"Like he'd ever make it?"

Laughter began to erupt as something within Cloud seemed to snap as he gave no warning to Zack as the next sound that was heard, amongst the silent gasps of shock was the sound of metal hitting metal against the sounds of grunts that escaped the raven haired SOLDIER. Cloud's eyes were fierce and dark, pent up abuse, sneers, jeers, taunts, and cat calls of never obtaining the ideals of being apart of SOLDIER were now boiling towards the top as he dug the blade down deep against Zack's own blade. Zack was doing all he could to keep from the man impaling him with the practice blade; it was dull and not meant to do harm, but it was sparking with each hit as Cloud crushed Zack down into the floor. All eyes were on the situation, but Zack knew better then to let your opponent have the upper hand as he carefully swept Cloud's feet out from under him as Cloud caught himself falling backwards to the mat.

Zack's gaze was steely and well practiced as he stared into Cloud's sky blue ones, the Alpha had won against the Omega, "You sure are one hot tempered little blond aren't you?"

"Shut up…" Cloud pushed him upwards with the blade as the tip came up against Zack's fleshy cheek.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Zack's sword fell to the side as he pressed a gloved hand against his face, trying at all costs to stop the bleeding, "Why did you do that for?!"

Cloud seemed overtaken by something as he stood there, the tip of the blade shifting up under the man's gloved hand as in a final blow; he left another discerning blow against his face. A clatter of feet rushed Cloud as the sword was wrenched from his hand and he was pulled away from Zack as Zack was helped to his feet; no one knew exactly what had caused Cloud to go off on the man like he had. Zack was in a way Cloud's mentor, but something in that moment changed; he saw Zack as just as another taunting voice in his head telling him he would never making it into SOLDIER.

"Let's go Strife, you need a cool down moment," Cloud was carted off to a secluded area as the mist of blood rage remained in his eyes; it was frightening, but it was soon worked out of him as howls of pure shock erupted from the showers.


	2. After Effects

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they are the copyrighted characters of Tetsuya Nomura

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they are the copyrighted characters of Tetsuya Nomura  
ZackxCloud  
Rating: PG-13 to R (varies as this story continues on)  
Plot: The Lone Wolf and the Wolf of SOLDIER, two different creatures entirely, one of an almost Omega rank and the other, close to an Alpha...They were never meant to fall in love, Alpha's never fall for anyone lower then them. Cloud wants to be in SOLDIER, but when paired with Zack to teach him the ways, will remarks and taunts from others in his own Unit cause the blond man to lose his temper all over Zack, discerning his chances of being with the Alpha? Find out.  
Note: There is some mild language in this hence the M rating, just to be safe.

Chapter 2-Sometimes Falling From Grace Isn't Always So Graceful

Water pounded down on the crumpled form as did the pounding, driving rain that seemed to drive on him with the water as well as the men's words as the others stood around watching their Commander berate the Grunt. He had crossed the line and punishment was evident at this time, water rushed all around his head as the sounds of the man's voice bounced off his head.

"You better be damn grateful that you didn't slit his throat while you were at…your head would not be the only one rolling if his rolled," the Commander watched as the water stopped its pounding drive as Cloud know sat, curled up on the floor, shivering from the cold rain, "Pull anything like that stunt again, and I'll make sure that you are punished far worse then this."

Cloud was picked up off the floor and roughly dragged off to his room, to think about what he had done to Zack, "I'm going to go check in on Fair, hopefully this stunt hasn't ruined any standing with SOLDIER."

Zack sat up in his room, his fingers brushing over the gauzed bandage on his face; every stroke against it flashed back memories of the fight of that morning, images of the fiery in the blonde's eyes was frightening, but he knew better what it was. It was a cover for what was really there in that gaze; he was scared, scared of uncertainty of what awaited him if he couldn't succeed in the goal he wanted more then anything. Scared of let down and all of that was hidden behind a mist of rage that had been growing with the held in taunts, cat calls, jeers and overall negativity from those around him. He had felt it in every blow that was dealt and each blow was filled with that fueled rage was inching him further and further to a breaking point.

Soft knocking came at his door as he opened the door, "So how's the face?"

"Can't complain, but it's liable to be a bigger chick magnet then my own charms, don't you think, Angeal?" Zack shrugged as he moved back towards his bed as he let his Mentor enter the room, "So, what prompted this visit?"

"It's Strife."

Zack stopped halfway through his steps, "What about him?"

"There is talk of disciplinary action…possibly dismissal from ShinRa completely, for what happened today," Angeal was serious about what he had to say about the blond.

Fear was never something Zack showed, but this time, "It wasn't his fault, the ones they should be punishing are the assholes that are in his squad who provoke him…he's a good guy, he just…"

"He just doesn't have what it takes to be in SOLDIER, a tough outer exterior to be able to block out these things isn't working or showing in him…" Angeal knew all too well what Zack meant; he had seen the men and how they talked about Cloud and he could se that the only reason why Cloud would bury himself in the SOLDIER Manual was to hide from the world around him.

"Then what do you want me to do…" Zack wanted to cry for his friend; he was going to lose another friend to the inner cruel actions that was allowed to go on without consequences, "What do you suggest I do to help him?"

Angeal could see the man was trying to keep it together as he wrapped his arms around the man which surprised Zack, but there was no use denying it now as Zack broke down in the man's arms. He wanted to help Cloud, he wanted to be the strong SOLDIER he was, but how can you when the one you want to help is considered beneath you and all you can do is watch him spiral into a downfall spiral?

Words weren't going to help the situation, actions were the only thing possible to help this situation, "Be a friend to him, see if you can get through to him; he is much like you were when you first came here…"

Zack had all but forgotten how he had been upon his arrival into SOLDIER; he had been a Grunt at one time and it took a friendly hand to lift him out of the corner of withdrawn self to come out of hiding and become the person he was now. Barriers are meant to be broken down, but Cloud's barriers would never come down that easy, especially the ones guarding his door now.

"Angeal," the voice of Cloud's commander rang out through the hollowed halls as Angeal let Zack go, watching Zack pull himself together, "Angeal."

"Remember what I said…" Angeal left as he went to answer the Commander's beckoning call.

Zack took another way back to his dorm to avoid having to face Cloud's Commander; he knew full well that every Grunt Commander was looking to get in good with SOLDIER and having to be stand at attention beside Angeal to assure the man that things were fine was like treating a dog to be a show dog instead of its true self. It was embarrassing and degrading to be considered a pampered lap dog of ShinRa; that wasn't what he had signed up for when he signed on to be part of SOLDIER.

"So, you off to see the broken little puppy, Puppy?" the man from before that had followed Zack after he had taken Cloud back to his room reappeared, taunting him even more, "I didn't know that the 2nd Class SOLDIER, Zack Fair cared for people, I thought SOLDIERS lacked emotions."

Popping off to the man wasn't what he wanted to do, but the man was pushing his luck as Zack fought off ignoring him as he headed for his room, but the man continued to follow him, "No, I'm going back to my room to rest…I learned today that Strife isn't someone to mess with."

"I doubt that, you're just going off to lick your wounded pride because you had your hide handed to you by a lowly little Grunt," the sound of Zack's fist colliding with the man's jaw was a sickening crunch as the man went flying into the wall, landing in a heap against the floor.

Zack stared at the mess on the floor as he held his hand, softly panting, "Don't you EVER talk about him that way…again…he maybe a Grunt, but he has more pride and honor then you'll ever have in any part of your sorry excuse for a man hide…"

The sound of the fight hadn't gone unheard by the two elders, "Excuse me." Angeal left as he went towards the sounds of it; the Commander hadn't thought anything of it; he knew what had been the problem as he came across the unconscious form of the man that Zack had knocked out as he shook his head. As much as he didn't want to get involved with the Grunts; he couldn't just leave the man on the floor as he placed him off in the Infirmary as he headed off to find Zack. Zack found his way into his own dormitory as he set about destroying the room in a brash show of anger, why was it that he became like this whenever someone threatened Cloud? It wasn't as if the man could really care that much about him, he was a friend after all, but…lately, there had been signs showing up on his radar that told him it was more then that. There had been occasional accidental brushes of hands against one another, only to brush it off as nothing, brushing up closer against one another that almost feel as they were invading one another's personal space.

"…It's…It's probably nothing, we work close to one another often…it's not like it's anything serious," Zack softly and nervously chuckled to himself as he laid on his bed glancing up at the ceiling of his room, "…Isn't it?"

For as long as he could remember, there had been times when he had been asked out by girls, and, having a girlfriend didn't seem like a bad way of going about things with one's life. Intimacy had been an issue with him even from the start even when one girl he had been dating turned out to be more into claiming him as being her first lay, to him, that wasn't what he wanted in a relationship. Nonetheless, he was forced into it and after an experience of intercourse with a woman; he realized that maybe, maybe that wasn't what he wanted, if he was ever to do it with a woman again, he wanted it to be a relationship built on real feelings. Not something that was false just because she wanted him to be a mark on her list of firsts in regards to relationships; when Zack got notice he had been accepted into SOLDIER, he broke it to the girl that they couldn't be together anymore.

Zack nervously chuckled as he remembered what happened the day he told the girl he had to break up with her, "…Man, I couldn't show my face near any girls after that incident and my reputation got kind of tarnished due to it. At least she found someone else to be with."

Little did he know, the girl may have seemed fair and straight as an arrow, but it seemed after getting drunk a party with friends to work off her sorrows of losing Zack; she game to the conclusion she wasn't into guys like it seemed Zack may not be into girls.

"Her Mom sure had a few choice words for me the day I left, claiming how I was the reason why her daughter was now dating a girl…what can I say, I guess its just a fad for her?"

Cloud had remained silent since being placed in his room, unconscious was the better word for the way he was. Nightmares are a figment of our subconscious minds, frightening experiences in our lives fuel these visions, sometimes things we see that could be only consider horrendous only work to fuel the nightmare. The ones filling Cloud's head were frightening to speak about, the figures in his nightmare seemed like demons, stabbing, prodding, and kicking at him. Their voices were demonic as their fingers stretched out at him, clawing at him, tearing at him and making every part of him bleed as it seemed to run like a dark red water river. Cruel words uttered from their mouths as they seemed to strike him like poisonous arrow tips as all he could do was writhe in agony and attempt to scream out against their words and actions.

"…Make it all stop…make it all go away…just…make it…all…stop…" Cloud's lips slowly moved as they softly made the words come out; it became a mantra to keep him safe "Make them all go away..."

Zack stopped halfway in the hall as he heard the faint voice; his hand softly pressing against Cloud's door as he listened to it, it killed him to think that his want to be just like him was causing this to happen. Was it because he was a SOLDIER and Cloud wasn't? He couldn't figure out why it was so that the man was having these frightening images swimming through his head; Zack had to know as he pushed the man's door open. There was no movement as he saw that Cloud was still unmoving from lying curled up on his bed, still covered in wet clothes from the cruel hazing and berating he had gotten from his Commander. His footsteps softly padded against the floor as he managed to sit down softly next to the man, his hand was hesitant to reach out to him or even touch him in fear that the man would freak out and take it out on him again. But even when he tempted fate, the man never flinched over even moved; it prompted to Zack that was alright to get close to this man as he worked his arms around the man's frame as he pulled the wet, cold, frightened blond to his arms. The blonde's hair smelled like the rain with hints of sweet scents of jasmine; his nose seemed to rest in the man's wet locks, heaven it was to be this close to him.

His eyes roved down to the man's face as he let his fingers softly move against his face, tracing what could've been tear stain marks or tracks of the water that had beat down on him, "...How I would give anything to make these tears...fears...and nightmares go away...you know I would do anything to make them go away..."

Gods how he wished he could keep the promise as his fingers traced downwards to the soft lips on the man's fragile face, muttering quietly the mantra even more but Zack wanted them to be saying something else. Zack's eyes seemed to close in a soft surrender as his hands moved the man's face towards his own; temptation was taking over him more and more as he softly caressed his lips against Cloud's, silencing the odd mantra. Cloud seemed to become a blissful being of serenity as his tense figure became a soft form in the man's arms as his own arms wrapped, gently, around Zack's form.

His nightmarish figures started to scream as a creature of light, teeth gnashing about at the heels of the demonic creatures charged on them, causing them to disperse as Zack's lips were working softer and softer over Cloud's. Cloud seemed to be opening up to Zack's welcoming touch as his lips softly parted, as Zack's tongue entered slowly as to not prompt fear; the monsters were running in fear as the creature's teeth started to gnash down on the monster's throats. Their howls ripping out through the brightening light that was coming as Zack started to become courageous as he let his hands move down the man's body bringing him in closer to almost turning it to the man being under him. Their moans and soft panting, gasping breath their noses was almost harsh as the light was becoming brighter and more luminous as it reached up to the little one being attacked. Cloud's tongue was working over Zack's as he fought back for dominance as his fingernails ripped hard against Zack's shirt which was making Zack curious of how far this man was going to allow this. There was but only one last demon to over come as Zack's hands worked up under the man's shirt, but his kisses changed as he nipped him back in the lips as a warning.

Wolf of light started his charge at the demon that snapped hard at his ears and legs, this demon wasn't one of the ones that had been harming the timid one, this one was the side of Cloud that was trying to making the timid sided one to be open around the one of light. Cloud was breaking and was starting to lose his breath as he sucked in air harder and harder against Zack as his hands started scrambling against the man's pants as he bit Zack hard in the kisses. Zack nearly winced but it was almost a good feeling as he took the man's lead as he started undoing the boy's as well. The fight in Cloud's head was getting faster and faster as both wolves were snapping at one another until the demonic like one had the light on the floor.

"...It took you long enough to realize the alarms going off in your head...but I think...now is not the time to move this fast," the demonic wolf was mounted up against the wolf of light as it sunk its jaws into the back of the light wolf's neck, causing the wolf of light to howl out painfully as Zack pulled back from it.

Zack's eyes opened quickly as he saw how far they had gone as the sound of the door opening up behind them turned Zack's attention to the elder raven haired man standing there, a look of utter disgust on his face as he left. Cloud was unsure what was going on; why had Zack stopped when they had been so close to what he knew they both wanted, but he knew as soon as saw Zack close his eyes hard.

"Shit..."


	3. I Think I'm In Love

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they are the copyrighted characters of Tetsuya Nomura

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they are the copyrighted characters of Tetsuya Nomura  
ZackxCloud  
Rating: PG-13 to R (varies as this story continues on)  
Plot: The Lone Wolf and the Wolf of SOLDIER, two different creatures entirely, one of an almost Omega rank and the other, close to an Alpha...They were never meant to fall in love, Alpha's never fall for anyone lower then them. Cloud wants to be in SOLDIER, but when paired with Zack to teach him the ways, will remarks and taunts from others in his own Unit cause the blond man to lose his temper all over Zack, discerning his chances of being with the Alpha? Find out.  
Note: There is some mild language in this hence the M rating, just to be safe.

Chapter 3-From This Moment…We Are No Longer Just Friends

Talk about the cat that ate the canary, it was written all over Zack's face as he continued to swear while scrambling off the blond as the sound of the bedroom door slamming behind him was the only sound Cloud knew was real. Zack's swearing voice, anger in it, as well as his apologetic gestures, words and body language had seemed unreal; the only thing that seemed real was the door slamming shut. The only thing he could do was just lie there, hoping the man would come back and clean up the mess he had made, in a metaphorical sense, but the longer he waited, the harder it was to come to grips that the man wasn't coming back. He was a one night stand, putting it bluntly and the one that had been in on it; was now gone after an angered mentor to apologize for what the man had walked in on.

Zack was on a terror as he tried to pull up parts of his clothes as he chased down his Mentor, "Angeal, Angeal, stop for one second, please! Just talk to me!"

"Fine, I'll talk to you, but I want thing in return," Angeal turned about sternly, glaring into the man's face.

"Anything, just name it," Zack was frantic to get back in his Mentor's good grace, he had screwed up, he knew that, but getting back in the man's good graces wasn't going to be easy; there was no way to hide that he had been at second base with the blond and planning to round to third and possibly home.

A hand found itself slapping against the man's face, planting him into the wall, sprawling him hard and knocking his senses of kilter for the time, the Beta was being reprimanded by the Alpha. As expected within role of a pack, the Beta had been toying around with an Omega, now he was going to have to pay the price for his toying around with the Omega.

Angeal was enraged, and he had all right to be so, "You can start by explaining what I just walked in on, and then, explain to me what brought on what you were doing with him…as far as anyone is concerned, he's a special case that ShinRa's got its eyes on, and you playing around like this is going to ruin it all…"

"Alright, but explain to me why those damn 2nd Classes are allowed to torture him or even why members from his own Unit are allowed to harass him into the ball of tortured person I found him like," Zack massaged his face and jaw where the man had seemed to had punched _and _slapped him, "And to answer your second question, I don't have to explain myself to you."

"If you won't explain your actions to me, maybe you'll explain it to the President of the Company as to why you were having relations with a male officer, I'm sure he'd be happy to send you back home, with a dishonorable discharge flag in your records," Angeal meant business with the stern tone of voice and body language, any other time he would've been more gentle and willing to help and listen to the man's reasons without being the tyrant he was at the moment; it just was, recently, he was been watching closer then usual and that meant he would have to be more forward with the man. He could tell Zack hadn't flinched, not even once, not even when he mentioned the dishonorable discharge flag to be placed in his records if he refused to answer his Mentor, the man seemed to have a different look.

"Zack?"

"Fine, charge me with not honoring my superior officer's commands to answer some stupid question, I don't care…there isn't much waiting for me back in Gongaga anyway," Zack's face never once turned back to address the man in the face, there was no movement of his body, no gestures, his tone of voice told it all, "But I'm not going to stop seeing that guy."

"Zack, just wait a minute," Angeal grabbed the man's arm with his hand as he pulled him along the hall, even if the man was hesitant to follow his Mentor, "Are you sure this what you want? Do you really want to throw away who you are to be with someone who may not share your same choice of relationships?"

Waiting is the hardest thing to do, little kids will tell you that it is really hard, especially when it's for something you've waited forever for and once it comes, maybe that wait wasn't worth all the trouble and built up impressions of what it could all be before it was here. Now that he had waited for the person he had a crush on since the first day of applying for ShinRa to finally make the first move, opening up his eyes to that maybe, the wait was worth it; worth it to feel the man's tongue lapping at his own and force feeding it down his throat, feel his fingers brushing over his delicate body, touching him in ways that he always imagined. Now that the wait was over, had fulfilled his expectations and first impressions, maybe, that wait wasn't long enough since his expectations had left the room in a flurry of angered swears. It was as you could say things don't always turn out that way, the way we wanted it to turn out because in the end, it was all a big mistake.

Zack may have had his own demon that had ravaged the solemn, pure, and innocent one within Cloud, Cloud had his own inner demon that would attack the pure demon; they always fought, fighting one another that it was right for it all to happen.

"_You know that he wanted this and you,"_ the fierce side of him snapped hard at the shy and timid, snowy white wolf, jaws and teeth coming too close for its comfort as it bounded away, timidly, _"ruined it, you with all your sweet natured act of not wanting to just cave into that magnificent beast that had you…"_

"I didn't want him hurt, he's been hurt before and I couldn't see him hurt again," the snow white wolf started to grow a bit of courage as it kicked its hind legs up towards the demonic like one's jaw, "You just want to have him broken so that you can gloat that you got some tail."

Midnight blue fur flashed around as it bridled itself up on top of the pure, snowy white one, shifting itself up behind the snowy white one, teeth sinking into the back nape of its neck, _"And I'm going to get it either way, you purest little prick...stop getting in my way...that man cares something fierce for the boy and you're timid little act is avoiding him from being truly happy...you're just a pacifist that needs to get laid."_

A soft thrust, dry thrust found itself brushing against the snowy white one's backside as he yelped from the teeth toying with neck nape as well as a hidden whimper of soft pleasure, "And you're just a monster that is like any other hormonal man in this army…you'll look for any reason to make anything you do seem right…"

"_So what if I am...this one is going to die miserable, alone, heartbroken, and sad...if you don't start allowing him to be more open around that guy...he's trying to be not only a friend to him...but possibly a lover to him...you remember what that was like before right?"_

How could either of them forget? Soft licks at the snowy white one's bitten nape from the midnight blue one told the snowy white one that he was letting him go this time; he had taken him on too many times after the man had faced rejection and had found release from tensions that had grown inside of him after he was always left by a brokenhearted fool. Both wolf like demons had fought one another time and time again to assure that they did whatever they wished to assure that the man either lead down a path that kept him safe, or allowed him to be more open and ready for more in a relationship. And each time the man would fall on a relationship, and his mind was plagued by images of the lost relationship when seeming to relieve himself of his painful tensions, the two wolves would go at one another. Hurting one another in a way that after a time, they had come to an understanding and would always regret hurting the other after the man had hurt himself.

"…After that one night stand he had that one time…I've never forgiven myself for letting him get so hurt…" ears flattened against the snowy white one's head, whimpering in a cowering state as he remembered that night again because he tell their inhabited being was remembering that night again after what Zack had just put him through.

"_Shhh, that night is over, and you don't have that creature after you anymore...I'm here now..."_

Cloud knew more pain then anyone was allowed to feel as he curled into himself, soft tears coming down his face as he buried his crying self into his pillow and buried himself under the bedcovers, in hopes that no one would hear the Grunt painfully crying. How was one person suppose to react to someone that had become as close as a friend making moves on him, while he remained open to it as he responded back in the same ways to the point of leaving him blissfully begging for more? How does a shattered person respond to all of this or take it?

"…I…think I love…Zack Fair…as more then a friend now…I think…we're…in a way…lovers…"Cloud couldn't believe he had actually said that through his soft sobs, but it seemed to bring him peace as the tears slowly stopped, his body stopped shaking from racked emotions as he surrendered to a peaceful sleep.

His demons had fallen asleep, curled around one another, noses tucked into one another's tails with ears laid flat back against heads, enjoying the sounds of one another's restful and peaceful slumber; come the dawn, things would be different. Very different in many and several ways that neither could imagine.


	4. You and Me

Disclaimer: All characters used in this fanfiction are owned by their proper owners of Square Enix and Tetsuya Nomura.

AN: *falls on face and hands* I'm so sorry if this chapter is UBER short! There wasn't much inspiration to make this chapter long at all, but I assure you...I'll make up for it in Chapter 5 and I'm so sorry if you guys were wondering where the 4th chapter was...I had totally forgotten I had this chapter FINISHED and Chapter 5 in progress...Gah. I'm so sorry guys ^^; I'm posting this up to thanks to....autumn-annette-19! Thank you dearie ^^

Chapter 4-You and Me

Things seemed unsettling for the next few weeks, any time either man passed the other in passing, Zack's stares to Cloud were cold, calculating and uncaring, devoid of any knowledge that they had nearly lost themselves in one another or that there had been any feelings of understanding one another's wants and desires for the other. Cloud walked about like a kicked puppy, now and again getting shoved, even grabbed at by other Members of his Unit who had heard about how Zack Fair, 2nd Class SOLDIER had managed to work his way into the man's bed.

"Maybe I should try and get some of that…"

"Come on, you even try and I'm sure that the Oh so daring, Zackary Fair will come after you and make you pay for touching his possession…"

"Who cares what Zack Fair thinks, that guy is just as open to someone else as the next person…" the man who dared to speak even now, licked his lips as he watched the kicked Omega wandering down the hall, "…I'm sure I can get him to "open up"…eventually."

Laughter erupted from the men that had had their eyes on Cloud, watching him like a hungry trio looking to cause trouble within a Wolf Pack, especially trouble that could leave a particular Omega ranked man psychologically scarred and forever afraid of other men. Angeal was keeping his eye out on the Cadets; Cadets were capable of anything, even to the point of dragging an unwilling, lowly Cadet out behind a wall and doing unspeakable things. Things that no one heard of until rumors started floating about why the lowly Cadet was now "pushing up daisies"; it sickened him that such men had such disgusting thoughts on their minds. He even kept his eyes on Zack, the man had not said a single word since walking in on him and Cloud, starting to round to second base; it had Angeal on alert about Zack.

"Zack, can I have a word with you?" Angeal waved the man over, as unwilling that Zack was willing to do it, but Angeal's attention turned from the sulking Zack coming to him to the sounds of yelping screams, "Right now Zack."

The yelping screams were coming from Cloud as he stood pinned against a wall while the deadly trio eying him, their hands reaching out and touching as well as grabbing at him, making the man scream and whimper even more. Cloud's face was an etched map of unwanted look upon his face, whimpers, mewls and moans coming from the way the men touched him. As much he tried to fight them off, the more they insisted till they had their bodies pressed up tightly against Cloud.

Angeal threw something in their direction that made them scatter like cockroaches, "Get off of him and get back to work you miserable cockroaches!"

A solemn and soft mouthing of a 'Thank You' left Cloud's trembling lips as the man quickened his pace, but he didn't get far as he found himself hiding in a hideaway alley of the catwalk, soft sobs coming from him.

"You happy now, look at the mess you've turned that guy into, Zack," Angeal pointed down to the sobbing blond, even if he was trying to hide his tears but it didn't help as his shoulders gave him away as the shook with each muffled sob, "I hope you're happy at what you've done…You've turned him into a possible jail bait rape victim…he's vulnerable as anything now and because YOU had to have an urge to get into him…"

Zack stared at the sight, the huddled little form, the sobbing form that was starting to hiccup from the tears that those soft blue eyes had sobbed as others walked by without another glance at the sight. It may not have shown that Zack was affected by the sight, but he was; he had broken this man, broken a man that he had held as a friend, but was broken into more pieces by men trying to get their kicks in on him. A soft sob rose in his throat as he choked it back.

"Don't show me this…it's not my fault this happened…it was all a mistake, one, stupid, mistake…"Zack pushed past Angeal as he ducked off down the aisle way towards his dorm, blame the Gods, but the way back was going to bring him back near Cloud, "…One stupid mistake…that got a beautiful man hurt…"


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, they belong to Square Enix and Tetsuya Nomura.

AN: The later points that are italicized thare conversation between Cloud and Zack's inner demons, in a way they are inner demons, those are them talking. Not to be confused w/the italicized dialogue that happens between Zack and some unknown person in regards to the guilt of hurting Cloud like he has

Chapter 5

Angeal knew that Zack was a broken man now after watching the sight of the blonde, as much as he hated pointed out the obvious it had to be done, Zack had to see what he had done, see the mistakes he had created and how they affected one man that was liable to find himself in a mental breakdown or end up as someone's unwilling lover. Zack was trying every route possible to not have to run into that broke down man, but every route was leading him towards the blond, there was no use avoiding the inevitable, _fate, you are a fickle bitch. _

He could hear the soft sobs as he grew closer towards him again, "…Cloud."

"Don't touch me…please, just leave me…I will stab the next hand that touches me," the blond was truly a broken man at the moment as Zack watched him curl in tighter against himself and he was serious about the stabbing part; he had a piece of scrap metal in his hand and he wasn't afraid to use it, "…Don't touch me."

"Cloud, its just me…"Zack kneeled down in front of the man, but before he could get another word out, the lonely Omega threw the weapon down as he threw his arms around the raven haired Beta's neck, "…Cloud…talk to me would ya?"

All that could be heard was the soft sounds of the broken hearted man sobbing softly against neck and the feel of his cold tears falling on his shoulders and all he could do was cautiously place his arms around the man's shoulders and hold him close against him. Softly make soft sounds to soothe the broken soul of the man sitting in his lap like a hurt little child; it seemed almost laughable at first, but as he listened to the way the man sobbed with his head buried into his shoulder, it became less of a laughing matter and more of a matter of consoling the man. He had done this, he, Zack, he had turned a sweet young man that might have at one time had had the chance of even making it past the lowly rank of Cadet into the possible rank of 3rd Class SOLDIER at best, but now…

_Are you happy at what you did to him…?_

_Just look at him…_

_He's so vulnerable…_

_He could be all yours…_

_Just one simple slid of your hands and he could be melting into your hands again…just one simple slip and then…_

No…I can't do that…

_Of course you could…just look at how vulnerable he is right now…_

_He's not looking for a shoulder to cry on…_

_He's looking for someone to take away his pain and replacing it with a different kind of pain…_

I couldn't do that to him…

_Snap out of it, Fair…you've done it once already... _

That's right. He had. He had lead him on and then lost his cool when trying to cover for his action when he saw the look of his Mentor, the Alpha as it be, looming down on the underlings of the ranks attempting to do what only Alphas should be allowed to do. It had scared Zack at first, but now…

"…Come on, I'll take you back to your room…you don't belong out here…"

It was in motion now. No turning back now…

The door slowly creaked open as Zack's footsteps were the only steps heard across the metallic floor but he was not the only one heard against the bed as the springs, the worn out bed's box springs creaked under the feel of one figure lying on it, but it groaned out just as loud or even louder as another weight was added to it. Cloud looked up almost out of fright at the sight of Zack straddled over him; he wasn't straddling over his waist, his hands straddled themselves on either side of Cloud's chest while his eyes just watched Cloud's soft sky baby blue eyes open and close, blinking. Blinking had become a form of nervous habit for Cloud; Zack had only seen it when the man was nervous, but it created of a form of hypnotic trance. He could just look into those eyes forever, but his mind was talking to him, telling him to reach out and touch those pools, see if they ripple when touched by human fingertips. One hand started to brush up against his cheek, but he saw the lowly Omega openly flinch at the first move of his hand as he pulled away slightly but not enough to not be away from his hand.

Zack softly sighed, "…I guess I deserve that reaction from you…we left off on bad terms the last time we were together like this…" the hand fell away from Cloud's face but as Zack was looking away…

Cloud let out an airy whimper as he sat up quickly, capturing the hand against his face, nuzzling against it like a kicked puppy, rubbing his cheek completely against the feel of Zack's calloused hand. Feeling every inch of that skin, he seemed almost relaxed by the feel against his face as he softly, but cautiously flicked those baby blues up at Zack, softly nuzzling at the man's knuckles before finally placing soft kisses against each knuckle.

"…Just like this…be just like this…I want us to be…just like this…" Cloud's voice seemed soft as those eyes started to half slide closed again but that left him open for much more, "Mmnh…"

Zack lavished in the way Cloud's lips felt and tasted against his own; they were as soft as they looked from a far and they melted just as so and did much more, they slowly slid open as Zack tested with the idea of moving his tongue into that new opening. Cloud's eyelids had been twitching, but the moment he felt Zack's tongue inside of his mouth, they stopped their twitching completely, everything had stopped twitching; it had all calmed down and smoothed out. And to think…just a simple slip of the tongue from Zack was enough to make everything relax, but not where it mattered.

Gasps, moans, groans, gasps, and a few light screams here and there erupted in a firework display unlike anything that had ever fallen or had been seen during the holiday time when ShinRa would let loose a few dozen of their finest rockets that had been rigged to create a colorful array of displaying colors in the night sky, but this was different, far different then any pyrotechnic work. Cloud's fingers worked slowly into Zack's hair as he almost forcefully pulled Zack on top of him; the odd dance that had begun between their own inner demons in a sense, the two wolves that had gone at one another during the same time that the two men had at that time had nearly rounded through the first steps of such actions; they were at it again. But this time, the timid wolf of Cloud's was charging, full on, teeth bared, growl ripping through the inner most core of the wolf's throat as it barreled Zack's own wolf over till it was lying on its back in submission, much like Zack was appearing now as he saw the ravenous look that over took Cloud's line of vision. This man was out for something, blood, vengeance, or was it that one thing that Zack had almost pushed for had Angeal not walked in on that time, but Cloud's demeanor was something he didn't except, especially as he felt the man's teeth, tongue and lips attack at Zack's core point on his throat. It felt almost wrong to be in such bliss at the sensation as a shaking moan seemed to come from the base of Zack's toes and start working its way up into his chest; each simple little act of Cloud's almost unpracticed lips started making their patterns against his neck as Cloud's head started to slip farther down Zack's neck and down near his chest.

That's where Zack had to stop the man.

"…Wh-Wh…Wha…What are you doing?" Zack appeared to be out of breath as he watched the man simply nuzzling his fingers, the one's that were holding the man up at bay away from him, "…C-Cloud…?"

Zack's nervous and near fright tone seemed to slow the man down as his soft eyes moved across Zack's line of vision, "…I told you…I want to be just like this…to be just with you…I want us…to be together…" the man's lips softly kissed along Zack's fingers before softly just resting his head in against the man's neck; a soft purr could almost be heard from him as the only thing that could be heard was the sound of the man's soft snoring.

"…Cloud?" there wasn't anything more said from the man as Zack let his head rest back against the pillow as his arms, comfortingly, came up around Cloud's figure, just holding him close against him, but not tightly so as to not frighten the man should he wake up and realize what was happening, "…What am I going to do with you?"

Angeal had been keeping his eye on the two men, long after he had seen Zack take the man into his arms and bring him back with him to his own room and had stayed outside of the man's room. When he heard the sounds of gasping and moaning, Angeal was unsure as to whom the sounds could belong to, but all he could hope for was that Zack was not taking advantage of the young man's fragile state of mind. Oh how wrong the man would be once the two men would emerge from the room and there would be no signs of one taken advantage of, aside from the trailing marks that would be found around Zack's neck come the morning.

"…_It seems your boy is starting to come around…it's an interesting sight to see…especially since you're the one controlling his emotions…" _Zack's own inner wolf softly chuckled as its paws playfully played with the other's tail, softly nuzzling up at the younger's chin, _"I'm proud of you…"_

"…_I guess I just got tired of him being so scared of Zack…he deserves someone like Zack…" _the wolf of Cloud softly sighed as it licked at Zack's wolf side's cheek, _"…Besides…your guy isn't a half bad looking…especially you…"_

The wolf side of Zack seemed to smirk to himself as their tails intertwined with one another before lying down beside the side of Cloud, _"…You aren't too bad either…and your boy…he isn't half bad a kisser…"_

"…_Same goes for you guy…"_


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own these Characters, they are the ownership of Square Enix and Tetsuya Nomura.

Pairing: ZackCloud

AN: To my faithful readers of this *falls on face*...I APOLOGIZE FOR A LONG HIATUS ON THIS!!! I'm so sorry. I've been dealing with School and the issues that brings and just lacking in inspiration for a time to work on this and kind of working over in my mind, "How do I want Zack to explain..." and I won't go into the rest of that question because it'll spoil the rest of this chapter for you guys. If you've been patiently waiting for a NEW chapter of this fanfic that I'm attempting to work into a finish without it being one of those kind of "Aww...they should've been together forever" kind of endings. The ending will work up soon enough...kind of questioning whether or not to have it work out to only 8 chapters or to just do 10 chapters to finish this out. So, without further ado, I give you a new chapter of Wolves Mate for Life

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Chapter 6-Love You Forever…

Rumblings of Angeal, one of the three top Alphas, putting some Betas and Omegas in their places after they had attacked on an Omega that had caught the attention of the Beta, Zack Fair, had started to filter through the Halls of the Compound that was starting to stir up some jealousy among the others. What made the lonely little blond Omega so special to the Beta and why was it that only the simple little blond Omega had gotten the attention he got from the Beta? Their cold eyes would watch the little Omega seeming to almost skip through the Halls after classes going to the Beta's room to warmly be allowed into his simplistic den and with open arms and what was this, simple, soft kisses? They were rightfully right to be jealous and upset at this upset of a simple and singular Omega to become the one to gain the Beta's affections and it worried the Alpha who was the mentor over the Beta. Allowing the Beta's attention and affection to go to the lonely Omega was starting to not only look bad for him, but it was going to turn out badly for the Omega if the Beta continued to watch, care, coddle, and attend to the Omega.

It was not a normal routine for the Alpha Angeal to go into the Halls of the Omega students, but lately, their rumblings, grumblings, and groans as well as gripes about the blond Omega had caused him to become more heightened in his walks throughout the building. They had been simple little things about being jealous that the Beta Zack Fair had so easily taken to the boy and was being so kind to him when it was in fact that same Omega who had charged at him and had sliced at the Beta's face causing the X-shaped like scar that resided on the man's face. Simple and childish and too much time on their hand's Omegas talking, but as time had progressed and the Omega's had seen that the lonely Omega was spending more and more time around the Beta; following him around like a lonely little puppy that was hoping that some scraps would fall off the Beta's plate so that he could pick them up and eat them before the man would realize he had dropped any scraps. Their rumblings, grumbling, gripes, and upset words were becoming harsh and dangerous. Some were plotting to stop the Omega in the Hall the next time he headed for the Beta's room and the devious actions they were going to take against him were something that no one would dare repeat if they wished to be able to sleep at night.

Angeal believed it to be time he spoke to the young Beta about his close relations with the Omega, "…Zack, can I speak to you for a moment?" the man's hand waved the young man over as the others of their ranks started to head back for the Equipment room to return the Training Equipment back to the storage closet.

"Sure thing, Angeal," Zack hurried to the man's side much like any Beta would do for its Alpha, but his steps were almost diverted for a singular moment as he thought he had spotted the trademark blond spikes of the one he had taken a shine to recently, "What's up?"

"…It's about that boy you've been hanging around…" Angeal didn't know exactly where to start; he had railroaded Zack the first time about his mistreatment towards the boy before and he could see it in Zack's lack of amusement eyes that he wasn't ready for another lecture on the boy, "…I think it's best that you ke---"

"Whatever you've got to stay about the kid, Angeal, he's capable of holding his own against any of those jerks in his squad," Zack seemed proud of himself as a slight glint of amusement arose in his eyes and overall body language, "So, what is really up?"

Angeal made to make another move to tell Zack to keep his distance from the boy because of what he had been hearing from some of the older boys in regards to their distaste of the two men's relationship, "…Heh…never mind, Zack."

"Okay, well, see you around, Angeal," Zack clasped the man on the shoulder as he called after the blond; their youthful laughter could be heard in Angeal's ears, to anyone else it would've seen harmless, but to Angeal, it forewarned of a storm coming that he had wished he had avoided.

Today would be one of those days where you can feel something of impending doom and gloom, or in a better form of putting it, danger, Angeal felt it the moment he saw the young man who had been making the remarks in regards to the blond that Zack had been keeping a watchful eye upon. No one, not even Angeal, could keep their eyes on the boy forever or even every second of the day. Like any of kind of day such as this, there would be warning signs going off forewarning impending and immediate danger or at best, bells and whistles going off. Even if they weren't going off on his head, there were alarms ringing warning security that something was amiss in the Main Hall where the sights and sounds of a scuffle where ensuing. There were sounds of running feet and voices calling out for help, voices were calling out over the intercom system to the extent of calls being sent to the Infirmary and Guard Tower. Angeal stood in the midst of the Parade Grounds as he watched, as almost in slow motion, all ranks moved to the site of where the voices had been called to, the only sight to behold was the sight of a battered, bloody, black and blue, angered Beta gnashing his teeth at a horde of Omega's that had gained the assistance of a number of Beta's who were brandishing their own marks. Voices screamed out from left to right, but it was hard to decipher whose voice was whose, but the one that rang out the loudest was Zack's as his voice rang out in anger at the men that had dared to touch and harm such a harmless soul. Feet scuffled as voices groaned under the weight of carrying off a fallen fighter of the scuffle while other feet moved faster. Those fast moving feet were working to pin the angered Beta to the floor, their actions and weight were similar to the same strength and speed of those that had attacked the Omega. It was an act of taking him out of the picture and keeping him from placing in traction those who were trying to get the quiet Omega to a place of help, unfortunately, that was not what the Beta's mind was registering the act as; his mind was registering it as form of harm and further hurt against the already damaged Omega. After a time, the Beta gave up as the sounds of the help's voices faded out into the distance as they got further from the site of the incident. Leaving the Beta pinned, confused, angry, and most of all, worried out of his mind about why his Omega had been attacked and what was going to become of the Omega.

The Omega's had been shooed away while those who had taken a few good knocks during the confrontation where ushered off to the Infirmary; the hands let go of the Beta once any sight of the harmless Omega had disappeared from the field of vision; all the man could do was lie on the floor, not caring to move. What was the point of fighting back now? The will to fight wasn't there if there wasn't anything to protect, that was the philosophy the man had adapted after becoming a close friend to the young man, but how could he consider himself a friend after allowing them to become overtaken so simply. Footsteps, the first one's he had heard since the fight began to move up alongside him and then a voice spoke up; he expected it to be something of harsh tone or mocking sounds, but it wasn't, it was an all too familiar voice.

"Zack?" it was Angeal, of course it was him; he had to be him, there was no one else that sounded like him.

The man's head slowly turned around as he looked the man in the eyes through one semi-swollen, black and blue eye while the other seemed to becoming puffy and red from the tear stained tracks that were on his face, "…What is it, Angeal…?"

"He seems to be breathing on his own, but he's still not opening his eyes…" one of the Infirmary Nurses remarked to the Doctor as the sounds of machines beeped around the blonde's head as bandages rested around various places that had taken beatings and scratches, some were deep, "…Whatever they hit him with…he took one Hell of a blow to the head…"

"…What of the other man that was in the scuffle? The Second Class SOLDIER, Zack Fair?" the Doctor's eyes gazed towards the Nurse's gaze as she looked to the Infirmary door, thinking that at any moment, Zack Fair would be wheeled in just as badly beaten up as the blond, "…Where is he?"

The Alpha curled a worried set of fingers around Zack's chin as he started to admire the work the men had done to his Beta Student and even when the Beta would flinch away, the Alpha would simply growl and bring the Beta's gaze back to him as he checked him over. The Omega's and other seemingly vicious, Beta's had done a real number on the man's face, but they didn't match up to the mess the blond Omega had done to him during that fight with the practice swords; the marks and punches they had left on Zack's face were nothing compared to the Hellish like fury the blond had unleashed that day on the raven haired Beta. Zack didn't want to be touched; he wanted to get to Cloud and then make plans to beat the living tar out of the men that had dared lay their hands on the blond Omega.

"Zack, look at me," Angeal snapped and snarled as he wrenched the man's face back to his line of vision, "Tell me what the Hell happened over here!"

Zack sighed as he held back a pained groan, everything hurt, "…Where do I start?"

"How about at the beginning…of today, I know how you and the blond came together, I want to know what happened today from the beginning that might have set them off…"

"…It was the perfect this morning…he was lying in my arms after he had nearly eaten me alive with his teeth and started making his move on me, but we didn't get any further then him attacking my neck…and parts of chest," Zack blushed as he saw that his Mentor didn't particularly cared to hear about those details, "…Anyways, we woke up and I decided to take him back to his quarters so he could get freshened up and ready for the day. I went my way, but I noticed that smug ass that had made remarks before regarding the boy…I didn't do anything in regards to his words…"

And that was probably where he made his first mistake; the rest of the day would wind about on its own way as if nothing was cooking up on the wind, especially the idea of taking the blond down a few pegs and putting him in his place as to show that Omega's should know and keep their place and to not associate with such high class Members.

They certainly got their point across.

"After I lead him back to his quarters, I stayed outside of his quarters to give him some time alone to dress in private and after he was finished, I escorted him to his classes and things seemed fine throughout the day, not a single sign of that pompous ass, but…when we were on our way to the Cafeteria…that's when…" Zack seemed to grow quiet as the haunting memories of what had just happened started to make the usually talkative man become mute and quiet.

Angeal leaned in towards Zack's face, "…Zackary?"

What was there to explain, the ringleader had been the Omega that had spotted Cloud after the brash and irrational berating the blond had gotten after attacking Zack in Sword's Practice that day that Zack gained the scar on his face. He had ordered those that were willing to help him take the lonely Omega down a few pegs to encircle the duo by cutting off all means of escape my any means possible and to at best have concealable like weapons on their persons when the time to attack. It was as it was planned, their eyes had glinted with a look of demented hatred and a lust for knocking the Omega a few new ones by any means necessary, even if it meant beating the man into an early grave. And they had nearly succeeded in the state Cloud had been taken away in; those that had managed to be caught by Security that had been involved in the skirmish were taken off the Detention Center for detainment till further notice. But among the fighting, no one was able to tell where the fists, punches, feet or even concealed weapons began and ended which made determining who was at fault and what punishment to be handed out to those at fault.

"…I don't know how to put it into words of how it happened…it just…happened…so suddenly, all I remember is hearing someone say, 'Hey Fair!' and then…" Zack shook his head as he tried to push the dark memories from the fight out of his head and it was coming on due to the punches he had taken to the head, making everything hazy, "…A-Angeal…I think I need to go to the Infirmary."

Angeal could see his Beta student was slipping from the way the man's head was bobbing and weaving, "Come on, Pup…"


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, they belong to Square Enix and Tetsuya Nomura.

AN: Well guys, its been a nice run and I just plain ran out of any real ideas on how to end this fanfic and its just been a kind of a bear to finish out...kind of like it has for the author of the fanfic "Special Discount". I've personally run out of inspiration to finish this out, hence the kind of lack luster Epiloque attached on this FINAL chapter and if you guys feel I've jipped you in regards to an ending to this fanfic, as confusing as it may seem due to the use of Wolf Pack Ranks for Angeal, Zack and Cloud, then I apologize for phailing you guys in regards to the ending of this...

But I thank you all for the reviews and alerts/faves I've gotten on this. Its been an interesting fanfic to work and post to here and I hope you guys have enjoyed reading it as confusing as it may read to you all. ^.^

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Chapter 7-Outcomes Are Always Harsh

"_What makes you so important to him?" _

_CLUNK!_

"_STOP IT! STOP HITTING HIM!" _

_OOOMPF!_

"…_Tell us, Strife…what makes you some damn more important then the rest of us…?"_

_WOOMPF!_

"_GAH!"_

"_CLOUD!"_

"_Z-Zack…AAH!"_

"_Pick him up and put him against that wall…" the sound of a metal bat started to pat itself into the fleshy palm of the voice's hand, "Either you give us one good reason not to beat your ass into oblivion, Strife, or, well, I guess we're just going to have to mess up your little boyfriend in front of you…or maybe we should mess you up while your man watches."_

_Evil glints and lips were licking themselves as dark chuckles started to dance out from the silhouettes as their hands started to reach for him as his screams started growing louder and higher in pitch, but their hands darted away as did their footsteps as the sounds of MPs and Security started to dash in as the only thing that was touching or at least reaching out to him now were familiar hands. A familiar was hoarsely whispering against his ear, asking him to stay awake, but it hurt too much to stay awake; he wanted to sleep, he had to sleep, sleep would help the pain go away._

Pain was all he had known since coming to SOLDIER Cadet Training, it had all been humiliation to the hazing that had been rendered on him after his attack on 2nd Class SOLDIER Zack Fair, but now, the pain had been inflicted for a different reason and it was that new type of pain that was bringing cause for the Doctor to order the man's wrists to be strapped to his bedside under orders that he may become a harm to others if not only himself. His screams had been muffled by a makeshift gag as he fought to scream against the Hellish nightmares playing Hell on his psyche; he had not seen Zack since the attack and being bound, gagged and feeling as if he been blindfolded to the world, he feared he would go mad.

"Does anyone work in this place or is it only working when you all damn well wish to be working?" Angeal seemed to bark out as he turned to the fading into unconscious raven haired teen at his side as he looked for someone, "I've got an injured person here!"

A Nurse came around the corner as she instantly snapped to attention and to her duty as she called out for further assistance as Zack was pried from his Alpha Mentor's arms and carted away, "…I'm sorry for the delay, Mr. Hewley; we've had our hands full with the young man that was brought in from that scuffle…" her eyes gazed down the Hallway where she saw the others attending to Zack and now and again, someone was peeking in on Cloud, "…That poor boy…he didn't deserve all of that; it's a miracle those men didn't kill him or at best, Mr. Fair…or…I can't bring myself to think what they would've done had they cornered that young man alone…"

"Yeah…I'm grateful too," Angeal knew all too well the sickly minds that wandered the hallowed halls; he had all too many times or had mistakenly walked by a room when he heard the anguish screams of a young man being taken down by another and not in a manner that was much like just playfully wrestling with another, "…Do you know how soon it will be before he or 2nd Class Fair will be allowed visitors?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Hewley, I do not have that information, but I'm sure the Doctor should know that for you as soon as he finished his examination of Mr. Fair," a soft, caring smile crossed the young Nurse's face as she caressed a hand against the man's shoulder as she seemed to guide the man down the hall towards Zack's room.

Anguished, muffled screams could be heard from Cloud's room as his bed thrashed about, did no one care about his Hellish nightmares or the hurt on his psyche to the point he would possibly at best dislocate a part of his body. That would've caused just as much anguish as the pains that wracked his body from the fight, but as much as his psyche was becoming attacked and thrashed by the Hellish nightmares; he made an attempt to sleep off the pains. His mind was left unaware that standing in the doorway, amidst the sounds of Nurses even the Head Doctor ordering the man to return to his room and to rest himself was Zack who could care less about his own well being at the moment. Internally, beyond either man's line of vision, their own internal demons were watching over one another; Zack's had taken a liking to Cloud's and could in its own way, be seen nursing the fallen one of Cloud's.

"_Come on…you can't give up just yet…" the blackened wolf began to softly lick at the injured other, softly whimpering and whining, nuzzling its nose in against the thrashed, beaten and bloody mane of the other, "…Come on, don't you quit on me yet…you've got to fight off these guys or else they'll win…do you want that for your guy? I know mine doesn't want that for your guy…My guy is willing to do whatever is possible to help you both, but you've got to do some of the work too…"_

_Softly and slowly, the injured snowy white had managed to lift its head, ears flattened against its head and saddened at its own state as it appreciatively licked at the other's chin, "…I'll be fine…I just need to rest for now…It hurts even now to move, but will…" its soulful eyes stared up at the blackened wolf, "…will you stay at my side through the night?"_

_A soft chuckle of concern came from the blackened one, "…I would even run the darkest woods of Hell for you…yes…I'll stay by you for the night…"_

"Mr. Fair, you can't do th---"the Nurse began to intercede but Angeal stepped in on the men's behalf, "…Mr. Hewley?"

Angeal watched as the wounded soul of his Beta student move in next to the bound form of the Omega, "…Let them be…if those two are to be student and Mentor in the future, they must learn to live together like that…one watching over the other…"

It confused and befuddled the Doctor to no end, but the Nurses did as the man had asked, "…Watch over him, Pup…one day, he may be the one that saves your life…"

Neither man moved about the bed; not a single movement was seen from either one throughout the night and into the next morning, aside from the occasional twitch. Within the days that followed, both men were given a clean bill of health and were allowed to roam about the Halls freely without problem or reason to question every footstep that formed or stepped out behind them. The nightmares that Cloud had endured since the fight had all but subsided to nothing more then a mere dark memory that had been suppressed through the help of talking with someone of a professional standard that knew how to help the situation. As well as Zack, he had become the strength for the young man and the two were inseparable.

Or so it would seem.

Epilogue:

"…I set about to end both our lives…" dreary and rainy, that's how it had been even that day, "…I promised…I promised Angeal I would watch over you as you would me…and what do I do…"

A scoff came from the blonde's lips, "I went got us in the biggest trouble ever…probably worse then the time after we got released from the Infirmary and Psychiatric Watch…Remember, how we went after those bastards that tried to beat the living tar out of us, especially me," a choking sob rose forward, "You, You did all you could then and even during the time of when I…"

"…Stop beating yourself up…it wasn't your fault…" the voice had been there since those first dreary days that he had lost Zack, "Besides…I never blamed you. You became strong…stronger then any of those puny little squirts of Omega back then…And who do you have to thank for that?"

Arms had wrapped about Cloud's waist, but there was no flesh and bone to place to them, just the sensation that there was someone there as weight shifted against the man's frame, "…Come on, tell me, who do you have to thank for making you an ass kicking Omega, nearly Beta wolf in that crazy pack of SOLDIER wannabes?"

"…Zack…" the arms slipped away a wayward smile crossed the blonde's lips as the tears began to roll, "…Thank you…for always helping remember who I was and who I've become…"

Something soft seemed to nuzzle in against the man's neck, "…As they will you tell you…and I have told you…even though I'm not here…in our own dorky way…we wolves…we mate for life…"

"…That we do, Zack," soft blue eyes looked up to the skyline, "…That we do…"

~The End~


End file.
